Tayyib Posted January 13, 2014 Share My first 8 months of mtb I rode flats! Eventually got the bug to swithch to cleats! Had a few falls on the trail at low speed forgetting to unclip and even infront of all the other riders at the coffee shop!...however within a few rides that discipated and now a few years on I unconciously unclip even during high speed crashes,except for those few knarley exceptions!...had some bad ones! But never considerd going back to flats! feetup 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beanz Posted January 13, 2014 Share I got some five tens and flat pedals and finally got around to putting them on this last weekend. I've heard much about cleats allowing you get away with suspect technique which will limit you in the long run ("cleating" is "cheating").So I put them on and first time I try to bunny hop I go up and the bike stays rolling on the ground. I got a bit more used to them after a couple of rides, but I'm open to suggestions as to how to get the feet to stay planted especially when hopping or popping. On or two small jumps or drops I tried it was quite disconcerting when the feed left the pedals mid air. Maybe it just takes a bit of getting used to to get the feet and the bike moving together. So too early to tell for me whether flats are the way forward, but I'm going to stick with it for a while at least and try to get a proper bunny hop and some other skills going. I'm much happier to try things like wheelies and manuals in flats. As for riding with cleats I never had problems getting out in a hurry, but have had the odd issue with unintentionally unclipping. The embarrassing noob phase of forgetting how to unclip and wiping out in the parking lot doesn't last very long and is nothing to be afraid of. Ultimately I don't think it's a bad thing to learn to do both, obviously depending on the type of riding you do. feetup 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted January 13, 2014 Share Yo beanz, it does take time to adjust, that's for sure. You essentially have to relearn the whole technique, from scratch, the proper way. Cleats allow you to pull up with your legs when attempting a hop, Whereas proper hopping requires a pre load and then a proper jump. Think of it like a step up (in gym terms) you don't just lift your legs and hope for the best. You compress and then spring with all your might. Same as a hop. Compress (as if you were pumping the back side of a jump to gain more speed) then lift the front as if to manual and release. The foot contact thing comes with keeping your heels down and relaxing your legs. Give it time. It took about 10 rides for me to get okay with the idea, and on certain stuff the pedals still get away from me. But if I ever go back to cleats (I may, who knows) I now know the proper technique. beanz and feetup 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetup Posted January 13, 2014 Share Sauser,kulharvey and many other inspiring mountain bikers use those same flats don't they? Oh no they use CLEATS! Silly me ! Just saying-stir stir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fantana Posted January 13, 2014 Share After 8 years of riding cleated for more than 100 000km on road bikes and mountain bikes, I have decided to try flats late last year. I got myself 510 freerider VXi and shimano Saint pedals. My main reason was to improve skill, which I am constantly working at. I did over 1000km of riding on flats the last 6 weeks, and switched back to cleats After the first long ride, my hip flexors felt quite fatigued and my core muscles worked a lot harder. It forces you to draw stability from your core, and not from the fact that you are attached to the bike. In my opinion flat pedals will also expose muscle imbalances very quickly, you will struggle to pedal effectively if one leg is stronger than the other. On the skills front, I have become a much smoother rider. My body and bike flows with the trail instead of your bike just going where your body goes when you are cleated. Is say try both, and cycle between both platforms... Haha... It has made me a better rider. I will be riding with cleats at Attakwas. But flats all the way for technical rides with jumps and big drops. RockCoach, feetup and breaker 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewinder. Posted January 13, 2014 Share Sauser,kulharvey and many other inspiring mountain bikers use those same flats don't they? Oh no they use CLEATS! Silly me ! Just saying-stir stir Ofcourse! How could I forget that xc is the only mtb discipline! RockCoach and porqui 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beanz Posted January 13, 2014 Share Yo beanz, it does take time to adjust, that's for sure. You essentially have to relearn the whole technique, from scratch, the proper way. Cleats allow you to pull up with your legs when attempting a hop, Whereas proper hopping requires a pre load and then a proper jump. Think of it like a step up (in gym terms) you don't just lift your legs and hope for the best. You compress and then spring with all your might. Same as a hop. Compress (as if you were pumping the back side of a jump to gain more speed) then lift the front as if to manual and release. The foot contact thing comes with keeping your heels down and relaxing your legs. Give it time. It took about 10 rides for me to get okay with the idea, and on certain stuff the pedals still get away from me. But if I ever go back to cleats (I may, who knows) I now know the proper technique. Thanks Mayhem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breaker Posted January 14, 2014 Share Thanx for the info and experiences people, much appreciated. :thumbup: And yes this topic is now grossly misnamed due to my lack of knowledge which is slowly increasing.I am in fact riding in my asics running shoes on bear traps and not flats.I must say though, that after reading these threads I'm keener to try out proper flats before cleats.Not that I wouldn't try cleats, but I think I'll get some flats first.As to the to the type of riding I do, mostly tokai trails and also throw on slicks for the odd road race like die burger and the argus. RockCoach 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayleyearth Posted January 14, 2014 Share I'll have to wait till next month anyway so hopefully the Rond will be doing better, got delivery of my XT SPD's this morning. Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Keep in mind that the ones from Superstar are basically the same thing (kinda identical) and they come in fancy colours Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rata Del Spruit Posted January 14, 2014 Share …and they come in fancy colours This is important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePubSA Posted January 14, 2014 Share Keep in mind that the ones from Superstar are basically the same thing (kinda identical) and they come in fancy colours They all rebranded HT pedals ...... from deity - nukeproof,etc and back http://www.hti-pedals.com/ht_portal/front/homepage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breaker Posted January 14, 2014 Share Whats the story with the shoes for these flat? I assume that the sole just has a pattern that sort of hooks into the little studs on the peddles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porqui Posted January 14, 2014 Share You don't want a sole pattern with big knobs but a more even small patterned sole. I think this thread should be renamed to "Need to move from cleats to flats, what do I need"or "How to enjoy flats" Edited January 14, 2014 by porqui Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Scorcho Posted January 14, 2014 Share The rubber is also super sticky, I always pull back on my pedals when riding on flats and they never slip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh0 Posted January 14, 2014 Share This is a good pattern......... breaker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted January 14, 2014 Share and so is this... http://www.sicklines.com/news-images/five_ten_freerider2s.jpg breaker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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